Assessing the needs of the most vulnerable people

Emergency

Haiti

As Irma, downgraded to tropical storm, is progressing on the West Coast of Florida, the situation in northern Haiti appears to be less critical than previously feared. Depending on the results of initial rapid assessments, Handicap International (HI) may deploy a team tomorrow to meet with the most vulnerable individuals.

“Information is still patchy in the aftermath of the hurricane,” explains Catherine Stubbe, director of Handicap International (HI) in Port-au-Prince.“The news from Cap Haïtien (the largest town in the north of the country) is not too worrying at this stage. Haiti’s Civil Protection Department sent us a first report that refers strong wind and heavy rain but doesn’t mention any serious damage. Obviously we still need to keep a close eye on vulnerable people living in isolated areas.”

The heavy rainfall brought by the hurricane has caused flooding and destroyed plantation crops. The Artibonite river has broken its banks. “Depending on the results of the first assessments, we may send a team to the north of the island to assess the situation facing the most vulnerable people,” adds Catherine Stubbe. “The ones who are most vulnerable to this kind of event are older people, people with disabilities and isolated women because they are less able to move around in search of a refuge or shelter. They need to be taken into account to ensure they are able to access essential aid, such as drinking water, food and shelter”

Handicap International now intends to identify the urgent needs of the most vulnerable families, in order to assess what kind of aid they can be supplied with. “We’re in touch with other international organisations and the Haitian authorities to determine our next move.”

Present in the country since 2008, Handicap International launched a response to Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 and after the earthquake of 2010. With some thirty staff members in the country, Handicap International implements natural disaster risk reduction projects in association with the Civil Protection Department in several of the country’s departments.

To gofurther

Following ongoing clashes in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 8,000 people have fled to southern Burundi since 24 January. HI has assessed the needs of the affected populations, in conjunction with the NGO Terre des Hommes, and is planning to launch an emergency response.

On 12 January 2010, an earthquake hit Haiti, killing over 200,000 people. Many more were injured. Moïse, 4 years old, had to have his left leg amputated. Thanks to the support of Handicap International (HI), he received a prosthesis and underwent rehabilitation. Supported by the organisation for the last eight years, Moïse is now fighting fit.

HI physiotherapist, Farhana, works in Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh, which has become one of the largest refugee settlements in the world. Ibrahim is one of more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees who fled when violence broke out in Myanmar in August 2017 and one of many who sustained life-changing injuries. Farhana shares her experience of meeting Ibrahim and the progress they have made.